╣tell me where the girl is╠
Arya had never been one for pleasantries. She loved the sword and swore to herself that she would try her hardest to be anything other than her perfect sister. So she found it very hard to stand in the presence of Tywin Lannister while she served wine to him and his advisers as they plotted against her brother.
Hard as it was to remember her courtesies and how to speak properly after months spent with robbers and rapists, it was quite amusing to see the lords and generals bicker amongst themselves as Tywin tried to hold in his disapproval.
Over the past few months, Arya had learned a great many things about the old lion. She knew when to give him his medicine so he would not ache in the night, and she knew at what points in the war meetings that he preferred water to wine. It was strange for her to learn that this fabled invisible man was only a man like any other.
Arya stood next to him now, having finished her duties for the day. "Do you need anything else my lord?" she asked politely as a good lady should
"No, go back to your blacksmith, I'm sure he is in more need of your company than I." He hardly looked up from the letter he was writing to address her, but before either could even think to move, Petyr Baelish walked through the door unannounced .
The slim man paused as his gaze slid from Tywin to Arya. The girl felt a stab of fear when he smirked slightly before turning back to the angered lord before him.
"I do hope you have a good reason for barging in here Lord Baelish." The man said unimpressed. Arya finally found her legs and shakily walked to the table where she had left the wine pitcher. She willed her body to stop shaking and managed to pour the ruby liquid without spilling anything.
When she turned around, Baelish had advanced further to Lord Tywin and gave a short bow. "Just so Lord Tywin." His voice was sickeningly sweet and it made Arya want to gouge his eyes out. Tywin raised an eyebrow and watched the slim man before him carefully. This was another thing that Arya had learned about the lord. He used silence to his advantage, and once he saw a single twitch of the nerves, he would lean back and pretend all was well.
"Very well. Pray this is worth my time." He looked tired, far too tired to be having a long conversation with the cunning Littlefinger, but the Lannister never let down his guard.
Littlefinger dipped into a shallow bow and lowered himself ceremonially into a dank wooden chair. Arya approached him slowly with the chalice of wine in her hand. How she wished to poison it. She had heard of how the man had promised help to her father, only to help in securing his arrest for the Queen.
Baelish accepted the cup from her and she faded back into the shadows where she could listen without being a bother. Arya knelt down and acted as if she were dusting and organizing the books on a shelf.
"My Lord, I believe that I have some very important information regarding the missing Stark girl." He almost sounded nervous which meant that he didn't know for sure that Tywin didn't know. This was a large gamble for him, had Tywin found out about Arya's identity before, it would be a huge blow to Littlefinger's intelligence.
"Go on." Arya could tell that Tywin was trying his hardest not to let his surprise get to him. It had been nearly a year since anyone had done anything other than whisper the name Arya Stark to her. She was a ghost floating from keep to keep.
"You see, I met the two stark girls in the Capital. Lovely girls. Sansa resembles her mother to a pin. Dutch a docile thing really-" he was cut off by a sigh from Tywin and was forced to move away from the topic of pretty Sansa. "Arya however, was more of the North. She had the wolf's blood running through her. My spies often reported her sneaking away to play at swords with random sons of the palace staff. She wore tunics and breeches when her father allowed it and looked more a boy than some of the children around the palace."
Though she was terrified of her identity being compromised, Arya was pleased that someone, even Littlefinger, saw that she was wild like the wolves of the north. not some pretty southern porcelain thing like Sansa.
"You tire me Lord Baelish get on with it." Arya had to hide a snicker behind her hand. "And please try to cut out all of your pretty words, they're quite distracting."
Baelish narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips. "If I am to give you this information, I would like to have something given in return."
"Name your price." Tywin growled. Arya stood and made her way to a wardrobe on the other side of the room. Tywin would be getting head pains if he kept this up much longer. She plucked a red vial from the shelves in front of her and poured its contents into a gold goblet, following shortly with water.
"I would like the Lady Sansa's hand in marriage." Arya almost dropped the glass right then and there. Him marry Sansa?
"Lady Sansa is engaged to be married to King Joffrey." Tywin scolded lightly as he accepted the glass from Arya with hardly a look to her. Arya's blood boiled at the mention of Joffrey Baratheon.
Baelish hummed and leaned forward in his chair. "But not for long. Come now Lord Tywin, I know the Tyrells would not help your cause without a clear goal set in mind. "You're going to allow the Margery girl to marry him aren't you?" Tywin did not answer and Littlefinger continued. "Sansa has no one else in the capital, let me care for her as I would have her mother if the gods had allowed it."
Arya scarcely held back a shudder at that. She secretly hoped that Tywin had some sort of secret card up his sleeve that would keep Sansa more protected than she would be with Littlefinger.
"I'm terribly sorry, but my plans for Lady Sansa differ far from yours. You see, when Robb Stark is defeated, and he will be defeated, Sansa would be the doorway to the north with her two other brothers proclaimed dead by the Greyjoy's." Arya did not miss what the lord had said, 'when Robb Stark is defeated.' It made her shiver. "Joffrey needs a powerful rule,something that can secure his legacy. He shall get that when the Lannisters hold control over the north. I hope you take no offense, but I simply do not trust you with a kingdom."
From her place in the shadows, Arya barely hid a smirk. The North would be in better hands with Jeyne Poole ruling than with Littlefinger and all of his schemes. "Of course not." Littlefinger said with a small smile. "Good if you to know your players on your board."
Tywin made a sound that sounded something in between a grunt and a scoff. "I will marry the girl to my son."
"Ah but you forget, Jaime is still in the hands of Robb Stark."
"Wrong son." Arya furrowed her brows. On a number of occasions, she had heard the lord curse Tyrion and critique his ways of running the kingdoms as hand of the king. Was he really going to give the imp, the son who was little more than a fly in a room, the North?
Littlefinger frowned and seemed to deflate. "Tyrion. Hmmm. It seems that you put great faith in him. What does he think of this?"
"I care little for what he thinks." Tywin spat back. "All that matters is that a Lannister will hold the North and his sons after him will have some sort of way to prove themselves to the Lannister name."
"You speak a great deal of legacy." Littlefinger observed with a polite smile spreading across his face.
Tywin did not offer a reply. "Now do you have any other requests other than the one I can't give you?"
"Yes I require my own keep." Baelish said with an overly confident smile. "Just something to call my own."
"Done. Tell me where the girl is."
Baelish seemed to grow even more pleased than Arya had ever seen a person be and looked pointedly at her. "Why my lord, she's standing in this room."
Tywin turned slowly to Arya and she had half a thought to run through the door. 'You wouldn't get past the solar hallway.' her mind whispered.
"Jeyne Poole, is it?" Tywin asked. It took everything Arya had not to shift under his green gaze. "Hmm, I suppose you do look like a Stark don't you?" He hummed again and turned back to Littlefinger. "Thank you for your kind council Lord Baelish. I gift you Harrenhal to be used for whatever purpose, once the war ends." Baelish's face fell at the announcement. He was most likely hoping for something of more value, something habitable. Instead he only got a pile of melted stone and ghosts. Littlefinger's despair would have brought Arya joy if her terror wasn't so all consuming.
The man rose gracefully and nodded past a grimace. "Your generosity is once again unmatched Lord Tywin." It seemed that the gods themselves, old and new, were on his heels as he left the solar and Arya was left alone with one of the most dangerous men in the Seven Kingdoms. No, she thought, the most dangerous man.
"You are a smart one girl, I'll give you that." Tywin said, breaking the heavy silence which had fallen over the room. "You remind me of Cersei and Jaime." Arya frowned at the comparison. "Jaime used to switch places with her when they were children. He would sit with her septa and she would fight with the master in arms. No one was able to tell the difference."
Arya stayed quiet, aware that one wrong word could lead her back to Cersei and Joffrey back at the Red Keep.
"Well don't be quiet now," Tywin said, taking a sip from his water. "You've been quite content speaking your mind during your time here."
Arya shifted before him though her eyes stayed locked on hers. He would not know her fear. "I don't know what you wish me to say." Arya said, hands bunched in the pockets of her breeches.
"Well I was expecting you to shout and curse my name now that yours is known."
Arya scoffed. "That would be stupid." She answered. "You're the only one who's keeping me alive right now."
Tywin tilted her head, acknowledging her intelligence. "This is curious." He paused to take another drink. "Only because I wasn't aware that you were missing in the first place." He gestured for her to sit and the northerner did. "Cersei was a fool for keeping this from me. Could you imagine how idiotic she would have looked if you made your way to your brother?" He seemed lost in thought for a few moments before he focused on her again. "Be on your way. I will retire to bed."
Arya stood. "You are not going to imprison me?"
Tywin had lost all interest in her and looked back down to his quill and parchment. "If you wanted to escape or kill me, you would have done so already." Arya nodded and turned towards the door. "Besides," She paused as the man went on. "You are already in a prison, no need to damage you."
Well that didn't take too long. Two chapters in one hour yall! Shout out to my past self for writing this one in advance.